JPH05121128A - Connector of low inserting force - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a connector of low inserting force capable of remarkably easily connection by low inserting force without inducing an increase in cost. CONSTITUTION:Pressing pieces 21 are formed on both sides of a contact portion 18 of a female terminal 11. A pressing portion 24 is integrally formed in an oscillating manner on the upper surface of a male housing 12 for holding the female terminal 11, for mutual connection. A projection 25 is formed at the lower surface side of the pressing portion 24. The pressing portion 24 is pressed so that the projection 25 abuts against the pressing piece 21 of the female terminal 11 so as to press the contact portion 18 in the direction separated from a plate portion 17.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a low insertion force connector used for connecting circuits in an automobile wire harness or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a connector, as shown in FIG. 5, an insertion piece 2 of a male terminal 1 held in a housing is inserted between a contact piece 4 of a female terminal 3 and a plate portion 5. Thus, the male terminal 1 is sandwiched between the contact piece 4 of the female terminal 3 and the plate portion 5 so that the female terminal 3 and the male terminal 1 are electrically connected. By the way, in the connector having the male terminal 1 and the female terminal 3 as described above, the female terminal 3
The insertion force required when inserting the insertion piece 2 of the male terminal 1 between the contact piece 4 and the plate portion 5 is a curve as shown in FIG.
That is, the contact piece 4 of the female terminal 3 is inserted by the insertion piece 2 of the male terminal 1.
When lifting up, a very large insertion force B was required as compared with the contact pressure A that maintains a good connection state. Therefore, in order to reduce the insertion force, the present applicant applied for a low insertion force connector disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-103829.

Here, this low insertion force connector is designed to reduce the insertion force by the following structure. The female terminal is formed into a cylindrical shape into which the male terminal can be easily fitted, and a flange is formed in the longitudinal direction of the female terminal. The lever is provided. By rotating each of these levers in a predetermined direction, the clamp plate provided in the female housing is moved to clamp the flange of the female terminal formed in a cylindrical shape, and the female terminal and this female terminal are This ensures that the fitted male terminals are brought into contact with each other. That is, the male terminal is inserted into the female terminal with a small force, and then the lever is rotated to move the clamp member, and the clamp member is moved through the female terminal in order to obtain a reliable connection between the terminals. It clamps the male terminal.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional low insertion force connector, a plurality of parts are attached to the housing holding the terminal in order to reduce the insertion force at the time of connection. There is a problem that the number of parts becomes extremely large and the structure becomes complicated, resulting in an increase in cost. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a low insertion force connector that can be connected very easily and with a small insertion force without increasing the cost.

[0005]

In the low insertion force connector of the present invention, the housings are connected to each other so that the insertion portion of the male terminal is sandwiched between the plate portion and the contact portion of the female terminal and connected in a conductive state. In the connector, a pressing piece is formed in the contact portion at a position deviated from the holding portion of the insertion portion of the male terminal with the plate portion, and the housing holding the female terminal has the pressing portion. It is characterized in that a pressing portion for pressing the piece to elastically deform the contact portion in a direction away from the plate portion is integrally formed.

[0006]

According to the low insertion force connector of the present invention, when the housing is connected to each other and the pressing portion of the housing holding the female terminal is pressed, the pressing portion presses the pressing piece formed on the female terminal. By pressing, the contact portion on which this pressing piece is formed is elastically deformed in the direction away from the plate portion,
A gap is formed between the plate portion and the contact portion so that the male terminal insertion portion can be easily inserted. Then, when the pressing portion is released while the male terminal insertion portion is inserted between the plate portion and the contact portion, the male terminal insertion portion inserted into this gap contacts the female terminal plate portion. The male terminal and the female terminal are electrically connected by being sandwiched by the portion.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the low insertion force connector of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the figure, reference numeral 1
Reference numeral 1 is a female terminal held by a male housing 12, and reference numeral 13 is a male terminal held by a female housing 14. The female terminal 11 is formed by punching out and bending a metal plate or the like having a spring property, and the electric wires 15 and 15 are caulked and connected. A terminal box 16 is formed on the female terminal 11, and a plate portion 17 and a contact portion 18 are formed on the terminal box 16. The contact portion 18 is formed by being bent from the lower end portion of the terminal box 16, and is urged and contacted with the plate portion 17. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, pressing pieces 21, 21 are formed on both sides of the contact portion 18, and these pressing pieces 21, 21 are cutout portions 22, 21 formed in the terminal box 16. 22 is projected. Also,
The male terminal 13 includes a plate portion 17 and a contact portion 18 of the female terminal 11.
An insertion portion (tab) 23 is formed between the male terminal 13 and the male terminal 13 and the wires 15, 15 are also caulked and connected to the male terminal 13.

Further, the male housing 12 holding the female terminal 11 is provided with a pressing portion 24 integrally formed on the upper surface plate portion 12a thereof. This pressing portion 24 is the male housing 1
The second upper plate 12a is swingably connected to the central part of the upper plate 12a, and projections 25, 25 are formed on the lower surface of the pressing part 24. The pressing portion 24 is pressed from above in the direction of arrow A in FIG.
The protrusions 25, 25 formed on the lower surface of the male housing 12 press the pressing pieces 21, 21 formed on the contact portion 18 of the female terminal 11 from the holes 26 formed on the upper surface plate portion 12a of the male housing 12 to make contact with each other. The portion 18 is elastically deformed in the direction away from the plate portion 17. As shown in FIG. 4, movement restricting portions 27 are formed on both sides of the pressing portion 24, and the movement restricting portions 27 come into contact with the protrusions 28 formed on both sides of the male housing 12. Thus, the upward movement of the pressing portion 24 is regulated so that the pressing portion 24 does not move excessively upward.

Further, the female housing 14 holding the male terminal 13 is integrally provided with an engaging portion 32 having an engaging piece 31 formed on the upper portion thereof. This locking part 3
Reference numeral 2 is swingably connected to the upper end of the female housing 14. By rotating the locking portion 32 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. The rear end of the male housing 12 inserted into the female housing 14 can be locked to ensure a reliable connection. Further, the locking piece 31 is formed with a clearance groove 33, and when the locking piece 31 locks the rear end portion of the male housing 12, the electric wire 15 enters the clearance groove 33 and the locking piece 31. The electric wire 15 and the electric wire 15 do not collide with each other. In addition, the side wall 3 is provided on both sides of the female housing 14.
4, 34 are extended upward so that when the locking portion 32 is rotated in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1, the locking portion 32 comes into contact with the upper ends of the side walls 34, 34. Is becoming That is, the side walls 34, 34 regulate the rotation of the locking portion 32 and position it.

In order to connect the connector constructed as described above, first, the pressing portion 2 formed on the male housing 12 is connected.
4 is pushed in the direction of arrow a in FIG. This way,
The protrusions 25, 25 formed on the lower surface side of the pressing portion 24 contact the pressing pieces 21, 21 formed on the contact portion 18 of the female terminal 11 to press the pressing pieces 21, 21 downward. As a result, the contact portion 18 urged to the plate portion 17 moves downward,
That is, it is elastically deformed in the direction away from the plate portion 17, and a gap is formed between the plate portion 17 and the contact portion 18. When the male housing 12 is inserted into the female housing 14 in this state, the insertion portion 23 of the male terminal 13 is extremely easily inserted into the gap between the plate portion 17 and the contact portion 18 of the female terminal 11. Here, since the pressing pieces 21 and 21 formed on the female terminal 11 are formed at positions apart from the nipping point between the plate portion 17 for nipping the insertion portion 23 of the male terminal 13 and the contact portion 18. , The pressing portion 24 when pressing the pressing pieces 21 and 21.
The protruding portions 25, 25 do not hinder the insertion of the insertion portion 23.

When the pressing of the pressing portion 24 is released,
The pressing of the contact portion 18 against the pressing pieces 21, 21 by the protrusions 25, 25 of the pressing portion 24 is released, and the insertion portion 23 of the male terminal 13 inserted between the contact portion 18 and the plate portion 17 is released. It is sandwiched by the contact portion 18 and the plate portion 17. As a result, the male terminal 13 and the female terminal 11 are electrically connected. Then, the locking portion 32 provided in the female housing 14
1 is rotated in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1, the locking piece 31 of the locking portion 32 locks the rear end portion of the male housing 12 to ensure a reliable connection between the female housing 14 and the male housing 12. The state is secured. Further, at this time, since the pressing portion 24 of the male housing 12 is covered with the locking portion 32 from above, the pressing portion 24 is erroneously pressed and the contact portion 18 of the female terminal 11 is removed from the plate portion 17. It is possible to prevent defective conduction between the female terminal 11 and the male terminal 13 due to the separation. When pulling out the male housing 12 connected to the female housing 14, first, the locking portion 32 of the female housing 14 is rotated in the direction of arrow C in FIG. Release the end lock.

In this state, when the pressing portion 24 of the male housing 12 is pressed, the protruding portion 25 of the pressing portion 24,
By pressing the pressing pieces 21 and 21 of the contact portion 18 in the same manner as at the time of connection, the contact portion 18 is pressed in the direction away from the plate portion 17, and the male terminal 13 by the contact portion 18 and the plate portion 17 is pressed. The pinched state of the insertion portion 23 is released. Then, when the male housing 12 is pulled out from the female housing 14, the male housing 12 is separated from the female housing 14 very easily. Thus, according to the low insertion force connector of the above embodiment, when the pressing portion 24 of the male housing 12 is pressed when the housings are connected to each other, the protrusions 25 of the pressing portion 24 are formed on the female terminal 11. Pressed piece 2
By pressing 1, 21, the contact portion 18 is moved to the plate portion 17
Elastically deformed in a direction away from the plate portion 17 and the contact portion 1
It is possible to form a gap between the insertion portion 23 of the male terminal 13 and the insertion portion 23 of the male terminal 13, and the insertion force can be made extremely small. Therefore, the efficiency of the connector connection work can be significantly improved. Further, in order to reduce the insertion force, the pressing piece 2 is simply attached to the contact portion 18 of the female terminal 11.
1, 21 and the pressing portion 24 is integrally formed on the male housing 12, so that a low insertion force connector can be obtained without an increase in cost due to an increase in the number of parts.

Further, the male housing 12 is replaced by the female housing 1.
Also in the case of pulling out from 4, the contact portion 18 is separated from the plate portion 17 by pressing the pressing portion 24 as in the above connection, and the male terminal 13 formed by the contact portion 18 and the plate portion 17.
Since the clamping force of the insertion portion 23 of can be reduced,
It can be pulled out with an extremely small force, and the efficiency of pulling out the connector can be greatly improved. It should be noted that the embodiment is not limited to the specific shape and structure of the low insertion force connector of the above embodiment.

[0014]

As described above, according to the low insertion force connector of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
When the pressing part of the housing holding the female terminal is pressed during connection, the pressing part presses the pressing piece formed on the female terminal, thereby elastically deforming the contact part in the direction of separating from the plate part. A gap into which the male terminal insertion portion can be easily inserted can be formed between the portion and the contact portion, and the insertion force can be made extremely small. Therefore, the efficiency of the connector connection work can be significantly improved. Also,
In order to reduce the insertion force, a pressing piece is simply formed at the contact portion of the female terminal, and the pressing portion is integrally formed on the housing holding the female terminal, so there is no increase in cost due to an increase in the number of parts. It can be a low insertion force connector. Also, when pulling out, the contact portion is separated from the plate portion by pressing the pressing portion as in the case of connection, and the clamping force of the male portion insertion portion between the contact portion and the plate portion is reduced. Therefore, the connector can be pulled out with an extremely small force, and the efficiency of the pulling out work of the connector can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a connector for explaining an embodiment of a low insertion force connector of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a male housing for explaining the structure of the low insertion force connector.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the female terminal for explaining the shape of the female terminal held by the male housing.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a male housing for explaining the structure of the male housing.

FIG. 5 is a side view of a female terminal and a male terminal for explaining a structure of a female terminal and a male terminal of a conventional connector.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the relationship between the insertion depth and insertion force of a male terminal into a female terminal.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Female terminal, 12 ... Male housing, 13 ... Male terminal, 17 ... Plate part, 18 ... Contact part, 21 ... Pressing piece,
23 ... insertion part, 24 ... pressing part

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A housing (1) having a male terminal (13) having an insertion portion (23) which is a plate portion (1) of a female terminal (11) by connecting the housings.
In a connector sandwiched between 7) and a contact portion (18) and connected in a conductive state, the contact portion is located at a position deviated from a sandwiching portion of the insertion portion of the male terminal with the plate portion. A pressing piece (21) is formed, and a housing (12) holding the female terminal has a pressing portion (24) that presses the pressing piece to elastically deform the contact portion in a direction away from the plate portion. ) Is integrally molded, a low insertion force connector.